Sunday, March 18, 2012

I nitpick in this review, but I want to emphasize up front that I like "The Sting" (1973) a lot. It isn't quite the classic that it could have been with a slightly better script, but the performances and the direction by George Roy Hill are outstanding and the period atmosphere is terrific and convincing. One must suspend belief a lot, but it's a fun ride and well worth your time.

Classic films have it all, great sound, great cinematography, great
actors with chemistry, and an involving plot. "The Sting" qualifies.
Paul Newman and Robert Redford light up the screen. Redford carries the
picture, while Newman orchestrates the proceedings. Newman, in fact, in
places wonderfully echoes his "Fast Eddie" character from "The Hustler"
of a decade before. The film also has one of the best supporting casts
in film history, led by Ray Walson, Harold Gould and Charles Durning.
Old pros, every single one of them.

The visuals of old Chicago are gorgeous, and the plot and visual clues
(note the gloves holding the steering wheel, then later turning out the
light on the night stand) reward repeated viewings. The soundtrack is
one of the classics of all time, up there with the zither music from
"The Third Man" and the themes from "Jaws" and "Psycho." So, everyone
should see "The Sting." I can't imagine many people would fail to enjoy
it. But I have some reservations which you may notice, too.

Robert Redford and Charles Durning.

First and foremost, it strains credulity that the mob boss who first
appears running his organization by remote control from New York, Doyle
Lonnegan (brilliantly played by Robert Shaw), would get involved
directly in the shady scheme that is at the heart of this film. I could
see him participating in high stakes poker games on trains, that was
something gentlemen did in those days. But then to get swept up into
idling around spartan coffee shops waiting for phone calls, just to
make a few bucks and get revenge on someone he barely knows? Come on. I
know you can build justifications for this - he really, really wanted
to take down Paul Newman's Gondorff character, and that was the way to
do it - but that bothers me every time I see the film. It seems odd
that a mob boss as big as Lonnegan would not find it, um, curious to
suddenly find a big racketeer like Gondorff operating in his own
territory. Lonnegan seems awfully naive about a wire con that,
according to the scam artists themselves, became obsolete years before.
And isn't it awfully convenient that Lonnegan is coming to, or at least
returning to, Chicago just when Newman needs him to?

Robert Redford and Paul Newman in "The Sting."

Second, the plot is a bit too slick at times. Every possible source of
problems is anticipated and eliminated, even highly remote ones. Geez,
these guys should work for NASA! People who aren't part of the team,
like Detective Snyder (what is he even doing there, shouldn't he be
back in Joliet? Oh yes, he's on "vacation"), unwittingly are used to
carry out crucial parts of the scam (in this case, escorting Lonnegan
out of the scam premises). I like a good con, but if these guys are
that good, knowing exactly how strangers will react to everything, they
should be solving the theory of relativity or something. And all the
locations and people hired must have cost a bundle, who was financing
all this during the Great Depression? Never mind the key poker game that sets the rest of the plot in motion, when Paul Newman cheats the cheater despite being under intense observation by a roomful of people.

Third, I find it odd that Lonnegan should be consorting with Redford's
Hooker character at the same time that he has someone trying to kill
him. It is overly confusing and unrealistic. If Lonegan's killer knows
all about Hooker's whereabouts, why wouldn't Lonnegan be told that
Hooker actually is the guy Lonnegan wants killed? That's a giant
assumption, that the hired killer is not going to communicate with
Lonnegan, and also won't see Lonnegan and Hooker hanging out together
like old chums (which happens often, right in the open).

Robert Redford is taken for a ride by Robert Shaw in "The Sting."

I could go on, but I'm sure you get my drift. I just want to point out
that the script, while outstanding, is not airtight. All risk of the
con going wrong is eliminated in some areas, but not in others. The con
itself, which is the heart of the movie, thus leaves me cold and is a
bit of a let-down.

Now you probably think I dislike the film, or at least don't
sufficiently appreciate it. But I do appreciate it, and love the film.
Everything else about the film is wonderful, and more than makes up for
the somewhat lightweight plot. This easily is one of the best films of
the 1970s, a wonderful decade for film. See it!

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